Friday, 4 March 2005

Frogs, cats and ferrets

Jasmine, who is ten, travelled in the cabin of an Air France flight with her owner, Sandra Merlet, and her two daughters. Mrs Merlet, 46, thought it would be allowed under the pet passport scheme, but flights into Edinburgh are not covered and the family were stopped by customs officers when they landed.

I wonder why only certain routes are covered by the pet passport scheme: not every animal or human wants to fly to Scotland via London. I noted this statement elsewhere on the website of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

You may use any of the routes and transport companies on the following lists to bring your dog, cat or ferret into the UK under the Scheme, subject to the transport company’s agreement. All companies have been approved by Defra to carry dogs, cats and ferrets but not all may wish to carry ferrets.

Yes, ferrets can be troublesome on the odd occasion and I can foresee all kinds of problems were they to get involved with kilts. But aren't rural affairs devolved to the Scottish parliament? MSPs could be innocently kept busy debating the travel arrangements of pets instead of harassing the populace.